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Just booked our flights to madrid and are so excited. ..we wanna be able to spend at least 5-6 days in barcelona and the rest split between madrid and another city...any suggestions are appreciated! We aretwo adults with a 3 year old...our flight gets in at 10 am and was wondering if it was feasible to catch the train to barcelona on that same day! We would like to spend the last few days in madrid so we feel less rushed to leave! Also any reccomendations on places to stay in Barcelona and Madrid would be greatly appreciated! !!

Would it be feasible to add Malaga to our trip? Maybe cut our days a few in Barcelona to add this city to our trip...so arrive on 9th at 10 am and either spend the night in madrid or take a late train to malaga (is this a viable option? ) spend 3-4 days there before heading to Barcelona and do 3-4 days there and then end our trip back in Madrid.

In Barcelona look for hotels near the Plaza de Catalunya, which is downtown.

From Madrid you could take the AVE to Malaga. From Malaga you can fly Vueling to Barcelona. Vueling is a very good low cost airline that I fly all the time.

Here is some info about Malaga, where I live:

Malaga is the capital of the Costa del Sol and has beaches, plenty of sunshine (320 days of sunshine a year), and one of the best climates in Spain. It is also one of the most beautiful and relaxing cities in Spain, and 100% Spanish. Malaga has 14 museums (among them the Glass and Crystal Museum, Carmen Thyssen Museum, Automobile Museum, and the two Picasso Museums), historic churches (four founded by the Catholic Kings), and monuments that include two castles (Alcazaba and Gibralfaro). The sights are mostly downtown and completely walkable. There are very good restaurants, tapas bars, and nightlife. The city is very safe. The Malaga Park is a very large semi-tropical park and beside it is a new park called the Palmeral de las Sorpresas at the port. Muelle Uno is a new shopping/restaurant complex at the port. The Gardens of La Concepcion are the largest tropical plant gardens in Europe. There are about 1000 buildings from the 19th century downtown, one of the largest and best conserved collections in Spain.

The natives have the great charm of Andalucia and are among the most friendly people in Spain. It is easy to do day trips to the white towns of Ronda, Mijas, and Nerja, since Malaga is the transportation hub of its province. Malaga Airport is the third largest airport in Spain and has direct connections with many European cities. One can take the AVE from Madrid to Malaga. Read the top questions in the Malaga forum.

Shopping is wonderful and most stores are walkable from downtown. Downtown has Calle Larios, Calle Nueva, and Calle Granada and surrounding streets, with many boutiques. El Corte Ingles is a large department store near downtown. Two shopping malls near downtown are the Larios Center and Vialia.

Good hotels in good locations:

5-star: Vincci Posada del Patio

4-star: Hotel AC Malaga Palacio – Good location near Calle Larios. The rooftop restaurant is a romantic place during twilight with a great view of the port.

4-star: Hotel Molina Lario – Good location near Calle Larios with parking. The hotel restaurant Café de Bolsa is a very good restaurant.

4-star: Hotel NH Malaga – Good hotel with a large parking space.

3-star: Hotel Don Curro – Good hotel near Calle Larios.

2-star: Ibis Malaga Centro Ciudad

The Restaurant El Pimpi at Calle Granada, 62, has Andalusian decoration and music and one can have tapas and try Malaga’s sweet wine here. This is the restaurant that celebrities are brought to. Movie stars and members of royalty have all been here.

Malaga was named by Trip Advisor as the 7th best destination in the “Traveler’s Choice 2013 – Top 10 Destinations of Spain” list.

Thanks Bennymalaga...the more we look at malaga th more we want to stay longer there...my hubs just told me he'd rather do more relaxing places and less touristy! We had originally wanted to do a week in Barcelona now we want to do the week in malaga and whatever time ia left split between Barcelona and madrid!

Thanks! We will definitely not be skipping Barcelona! But we have decided to see Barcelona malaga and madrid!! Now we are just trying to decide the amount of days per city!!! We all wanna have a great time including our 3yr old! :-)

If you still want to do a week in Malaga, that's only going to leave you 2 or 3 days each for Madrid and Barcelona, including travel time between those cities. Madrid merits at least 3 full days and I would assume Barcelona does too. Have a look at the things to do list for each city and then make an assessment of how much time you'll want in each city. In Madrid, most people seem to love the energy of the city, and though fast paced, its friendly and architecturally beautiful (especially the city center).

So we have decided to skip Barcelona on this trip (will plan one for next year to strictly see Barcelona and the surrounding area), that being said we will focus on Madrid and granada and Cordoba. ..we want to spend a few nights in either toledo, Segovia, or Cuenca...thoughts on which one. ..we want to get off the beaten path and relax in a not so busy city for a few day! Also can I just buy my train tickets for these places on the day od the trip? Would I be able to save ifI buy them now?